Surprises
by rosexpetals
Summary: I've wanted to write a Charlie/Duffy story for a while now and with her returning pretty soon, I thought, why not? Hope you enjoy...
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

 **I've wanted to write a Charlie/Duffy story for a while now and with her returning to the show pretty soon, I thought, why not? I don't really know where this is going right now and it will probably take me ages to update chapters because of exams but I will try, hope you enjoy...  
**

* * *

The ED was busy as usual, the reception was full of people either sitting and waiting patiently to be seen, then the odd few who were drunk and loud and then there were the complainers, the ones who always slate the NHS yet here they were, waiting in an Emergency Department. Charlie shook his head and smiled to himself as he walked past the large group of people and headed towards the office he shared with Rita.

When he opened the door he could see her sitting at her desk, her head in her hand, he could feel his smile falling. He always hated seeing his friends upset. He knew that it was either Connie stressing her out with all the paperwork or it was just one of those days. He moved and carefully sat down at the desk opposite to hers.

"Is everything okay Rita?" Charlie let out quietly, in an attempt not to startle her.

Rita slowly lifted her head to look at him, her fingers rubbing at her eyes, "Yeah, just tired that's all," she yawned.

"Are you sure that's it?" he asked her, making sure she was definitely okay before changing the subject to work related jargon.

Rita sighed heavily, "Mark was here the other week."

"Right," Charlie nodded, not taking his eyes off Rita. "Do you think you should be in today?"

"The department wouldn't survive without me Charlie," Rita could feel the tears forming in her eyes, from exhaustion and fear of Mark; she had been constantly looking over her shoulder since he had come back. "If I go everything will just go wrong and I've got to get all this paperwork done, fo…" she could barely get her words out as the tears rolled down her cheeks.

Charlie stood up from his desk and walked round to her, "Come here," he signalled for her to hug him, she too stood up and Charlie took her in his arms as she began to sob. He had never seen her like this before, of course he had seen her broken and in a really bad place in the past. But, she never cried. She never made herself look weak, never.

He held on to her tightly until she calmed down and pulled away from him.

"Sorry," she wiped at her eyes.

"Shh, it's okay," he whispered. "I'll always be here for you, if you just need someone to rant to about Connie or some random stupid patient that should know better, then, I will be here," he chuckled, trying to lighten the mood.

Rita closed her eyes and took a deep breath, returning back to her nurse mode, "Okay, we have a few agency nurses in today as Robyn is ill and it's David's day off," she turned to read off her paperwork as Charlie returned to his own chair. "Erm, we've got Amelia Simpson and Lisa Duffin."

Charlie's head snapped up and he felt his heart drop suddenly at the mention of her name, "Can you say that again please?"

Rita looked at him suspiciously, "Amelia Simpson and Lisa Duffin are our agency nurses for today, why?"

A smile emerged on Charlie's face as her name rang through his head, Duffy was back. But what was she doing here?

"Charlie?" Rita spoke, trying to get his attention. "What's wrong?"

"Duffy's back!" he almost said to himself, he then looked up to Rita again, "When are they going to be here?"

Rita checked the clock on her wall, "Well, I should be briefing them in about ten minutes," she paused. "Who's Duffy?"

Charlie shook his head in amazement, "She's one of my…" he paused, unable to really take any of it in. "It doesn't matter."

"Right, okay then?" Rita eyed him up curiously.

Charlie nodded, grinning to himself. He couldn't get his head around it all. He hadn't seen her in so long, the night he nearly died was so exhausting that he really couldn't remember what even happened that well, he remembered seeing Duffy but she never returned after her last visit to him. She must've moved to a different hospital but now she was back. They could finally have that catch up that they both so desperately needed and he could find out what she was still doing in the UK again.

"Well I'm going to see what the chaos is like out there, don't be too long, will you?" Rita questioned him; frankly, she was getting frustrated as he kept slipping in and out of a day dream. "Charlie! Oh forget it, I'll find out soon enough anyway," she rolled her eyes and began to leave the office but as she turned the door handle, Charlie snapped out of his little dream and called out to Rita.

"Yes?" she looked at him, one hand on her hip.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Charlie asked her once again.

Rita couldn't help but smile; she honestly didn't know what she'd do without Charlie looking out for her. She was certainly grateful for him, that's for sure.

"I'll be fine Charlie, thank you for asking," she breathed. "And how about you, are you okay?"

"You don't need to worry about me but I'm doing just fine," he nodded his head slowly.

"I best be off, I'll see you later," Rita spoke turning to leave.

Charlie sat at the desk in his office. He still couldn't get over the fact that Duffy, one his oldest friends, was going to be setting foot in this hospital again. He had so many questions, _what was he going to say to her? Is she going to stay? How is she? How are the boys?_ And, more importantly, _what was she doing here and why isn't she in New Zealand?_ He thought she was happy there, well, the last time he visited her she was. But, _what had made her come back to this place and why didn't he know?_ There was one thing he did know though, he was going to get those answers and very soon.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"I'm looking for Rita Freeman," the woman desperately asked the man behind the desk. She stood there dripping wet, her silver-blonde hair sticking to her face and her long black coat leaving puddles on the floor.

"Do you mind?" Noel said rudely as he looked over his desk to see the water everywhere, he rolled his eyes.

"Oh, sorry," the woman apologised, taking a step back.

Noel sighed, "Who did you want to see?"

"Rita Freeman," she said boldly. "I'm an agency nurse, got caught up in the rain and ended up being late," she tried to let out a small smile but the man behind the desk didn't seem too impressed.

"She'll either be in her office over there," Noel pointed in the direction of Rita and Charlie's office. "Or she'll be in cubicles," he continued, speaking with a monotonous tone.

"Right, thank you for your help," she spoke politely before turning away, her smile dropping as she rolled her eyes. She started to make her to the office that he pointed to. "Some people can be so rude," she mumbled to herself.

As she approached the door she gently tapped the wood with her knuckles, she smiled to herself as she read the names on the two small signs, "Rita Freeman, Clinical Nurse Manager," and "Charlie Fairhead, Senior Charge Nurse." What was she going to say to him? She hadn't really spoken to him since that night and she highly doubted that he remembered much of it. When she got told she'd be working in Holby Hospital she hadn't anticipated to seeing one of her greatest friends nearly dying, she had hoped to see him to have a catch up and then she could move along to another hospital. Then again, in a way, she was glad that he wasn't in the best situation for them to talk because then that would've meant he'd ask a tonne of questions that she wasn't particularly in the best place to answer. That was the only downside to her coming back now, it carried the questions that she'd have to answer; his questions.

She was in such deep thought that she hadn't noticed the door had been swung open and now a young blonde woman stood in the doorway, glaring at her suspiciously.

"Yes?" the woman asked; a hint of frustration and tension in her voice. "Can I help you?"

"Lisa Duffin, sorry I'm late, got caught in the rain," Duffy answered, gesturing to her damp hair and wet coat. "Rita Freeman?"

Rita nodded, folding her arms, "Considering you're agency staff and I probably won't see you again I'll let you off. But, if you do work here again and you're late I'll have to report you."

Duffy nodded, she understood the pressure of that job; having to control all the nurses in one department. The stress was unbelievable so she didn't blame Rita for being a little bit on the grumpy side. Although, she could be a little more understanding, it wasn't her fault that the clouds decided to give way as she was making her way to work.

"Sorry," Duffy smiled politely.

"Right, come in then," Rita moved aside to let Duffy into her office. "Lisa Duffin wasn't it?"

"Yes," she replied, making her way into the office. She looked around to take it all in; she noticed the picture frames of Charlie on the desk, a small smile spreading across her face. She picked up a picture of a quite young Charlie with Louis on his shoulders, her thumb gently stroking the side of the frame, tears forming in her eyes. She jumped as Rita coughed, interrupting her little moment. Quickly, she placed the picture back down on the desk. She patted softly at her eyes with the back of her hand as she turned to face Rita again. "But, please, call me Duffy. That's what everyone calls me anyway."

"Oh, so you're Duffy?" Rita raised her eyebrows, a small grin emerging on her face as she slowly nodded to herself. Duffy screwed up her face in confusion slightly as she looked on at Rita. "Charlie mentioned you, that's all."

"Ah, talk about me often does he?" Duffy winked. "How is he? I was there; I don't know if you remember, it was a busy day."

"Actually, thinking about it, I do recognise you! But, Charlie, he's good, still taking it easy but he's okay. I think he's just taking advantage really," Rita and Duffy chuckled. "Anyway, welcome back to Holby, it must be weird seeing it all again."

"It is all a bit surreal but you get used to it I suppose. I've seen so many faces come and go it doesn't really bother me anymore. I do miss some old friends but I've always got Charlie, there has never been a moment when that man hasn't supported me! You're very lucky to be sharing an office with him, that's for sure," Duffy started to make her way towards the exit. "Anyway, it's nice meeting you Rita. I don't think we really spoke the last time I was here so it's nice to actually talk."

"Well, he can be a bit of a grump sometimes but he always manages to put a smile on my face and he's like a father to everyone in this department," Rita paused as she thought back to hers and Charlie's conversation." It's lovely to meet you too and hopefully we can have a proper chat soon," Rita smiled.

"Well, that's something that hasn't changed," Duffy's eyes twinkled as she thought about the countless times Charlie has offered his shoulder to cry on for his colleagues; he truly was a magnificent person. "I better get to work then. I'll see you later."

"Yeah, see you later," Rita smiled to herself as she watched Duffy leave and head towards the staff room. There was something oddly familiar about that woman but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Shaking her thoughts away, she turned back to the paperwork that sat on her desk waiting to be sorted out.


End file.
